Washington - As Wall Street tottered on the brink of collapse and the US government unveiled one the largest market interventions in its history, stakeholders from every side weighed in with incredibly stark views of the country's economic future.

The assessments did not just focus on the country's short-term economic health. Many believe this week's events could drastically change the way the United States does business.

"Capitalism as we knew it - free-market capitalism - seems to be dead," declared Rob Cox, editor of financial website breakingviews. com.

Washington - Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is to visit US President George W Bush next Thursday, the White House said Friday.

The two men are to discuss progress toward building Palestinian institutions and "toward realizing the vision of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security," the White House said in a statement.

New York - Stocks finished their week-long roller coaster ride on the US financial crisis just about where they started, with the three major US indices Friday making a second day of huge rebounds.

Stock indices careened up and down through the week by as much as 4 per cent a day over a major bankruptcy and bank merger and as the US government bailed out the insurance giant American International Group Inc.

The interconnected world's markets rode along for the wild ride.

Washington - US President George W Bush Fridady pledged that the US government will tackle the root of the financial turmoil through a massive intervention that could cost hundreds of billions of dollars.

Bush said a comprehensive plan was crucial to keeping the financial sector from total collapse and freezing the availability of credit to US consumers.

"The American economy is facing unprecedented challenges. We are responding with unprecedented action," Bush said in remarks broadcast from the White House.

Washington - Australia, Britain and the US have moved to curb a stock-trading practice called short-selling to help put a brake on the down-slide of world stock markets.

For the US, the move is "intended to prevent investors from driving down the price of particular stocks for their own personal gain," warned US President George W Bush Friday morning.

He said that "anyone engaging in illegal transactions will be caught and prosecuted."

Washington  - US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Friday said it would take a massive government intervention of "hundreds of billions" of dollars to prevent a total collapse of the financial sector in the United States.

Paulson said he would be working with Congress over the weekend on legislation that would allow the government to buy up banks' mortgage-related assets, which have plummeted in value and are at the centre of the current financial turmoil.